Presidency 2015-2017

SIE President2015-2017: Elisabetta de FRANCISCIS

Elisabetta de Franciscis, SIE president 2015-2017, started an academic career after completing her studies in both Italy and the USA, her mother's native country.

She holds a PhD in Political Sciences and Law, a Master in International Politics (“summa cum laude”) and a Bachelor in foreign languages (French and English).

Currently, she holds the position of Professor of Comparative Constitutional Law at the Federico II University of Naples, Italy. She has also published several books and articles and has given numerous lectures internationally.

Since 1993 she has been a member of the SI club of Caserta, Italy. In 2009 she joined the SIE team as Chair of the Constitution and By-Laws Committee. She holds the same position, since 2005, within the Italian Union of Soroptimist International

E-mail : medefra@tin.it

Theme of the president

Educate Empower Enable

The programme of Elisabetta de Franciscis, SIE president 2015-2017, follows the global theme of our organisation “Educate to lead” . This project, chosen by the clubs for a 10-year period, was launched in 2011 at the SI convention in Montreal.

Without devaluing our values and traditions, she would like our goals to be more contemporary in our rapidly- changing society.

Her aim is to put education as our main challenge :

to counter under privileged women by means of education and

to create a platform providing women with broader opportunities to develop themselves and to take their future in their own hands.

that encourage young girls to maintain their interest in STEM fields. In-school ... SupportLearning Opportunities in the Community.

to reduce violence against women.

Technology, the sciences and economics are areas where Soroptimists have a role to play to avoid situations where women miss opportunities in those fields.

Each of the Soroptimist-objectives carries an educational component.

Following her predecessor she concentrates on a more focussed communication and enhanced visibility in order to facilitate a smoother recruitment and retention of members. She was involved with the creation of the 2012-2019 SIE strategic model - her goal being to better position our organisation.